Sure, throwing a steak on a fire-hot grill feels pretty manly, but don't pretend it's easy to cook it just right. Cooking steak in a sous-vide water bath is all the rage now, and will get you perfectly cooked beef every time.

Sous-vide cooking used to be something only seen in fancy restaurants, but since home sous-vide cooking devices have come to the market, there's no reason not to try it—it effectively eliminates the risk of over or under-cooking your meat, since you cook it in a vacuum-sealed pack in a water bath at exactly the temperature you want the meat to be eaten. Food blog Serious Eats lays out some serious information about sous-vide cooking, such as what temperatures are best served by the method (medium-rare to medium), which cuts of beef are the best to use, when and how to sear the meat, and whether to add aromatics to the bag—and they back it up with lots of tests, graphs, and mouth-watering photos. If you've been looking for a new challenge in the kitchen (and a new toy), sous-vide cooking may be just the pick-me-up you need. Hit the link for the super-detailed guide.